HRH The Duchess of Cambridge becomes Royal Patron of The Art Room

Today I discovered that The Duchess of Cambridge (nee Kate Middleton) narrowed down her selection of 4 charities to include an art therapy program in the UK, inspired after visiting an art therapy suite in a Montreal hospital. 

 William and Kate's first Royal tour 

Art therapy 

Despite protests outside, Kate and William were all smiles as they arrived at Montreal's Sainte-Justine University Hospital. They visited a 10-year-old kidney transplant patient in the art therapy suite. 

HRH The Duchess of Cambridge becomes Royal Patron of The Art Room 

We are delighted to announce that HRH The Duchess of Cambridge became Royal Patron of The Art Room on 5 January 2012.Director and Founder Juli Beattie said, “On behalf of all of our Trustees and staff and the children and young people we support, I want to thank the Duchess for choosing The Art Room. It is a fantastic endorsement of the work we do and the role that art and creativity can play in helping children and young people whose start in life has been difficult.”

Click here to read more about The Art Room and the Duchess' Patronage.

True That!

Artwork of Soldiers Through the Last Century

An exhibit (now unfortunately over) was presented in Philadelphia regarding the art of the military while they have been away at various wars.  Although this wasn't formal art therapy, it appears to be art as therapy, and a way of documenting moments that were likely difficult to put into words.  Working in a military environment shows me that this is not new, and that art will be a longstanding need for those serving in the armed forces, as well as with their families.

Dramatic artwork by US soldiers shows a century of war through their eyes 
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 6:31 PM on 31st December 2011

Since the first Americans marched off to fight the British for independence, soldiers have been chronicling US wars with paintings and drawings that show the conflicts from the perspective of the troops on the ground. 

Here are just a few of the 1,500 works of art by servicemen and women that were on display at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia as part of their Art of the American Solider exhibition. Beginning with portrayals of trench warfare in World War I, the artworks cover every American conflict through the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Some are simple displays depicting the boredom and monotony of everyday life in the military. Others show darker truths about war -- portraits of combat's stress, trauma and weariness etched into the faces of servicemen. The art also often shows the ruination that war brings to a landscape and the people around it -- burned out buildings and devastated families. 

Artistically, they run the gamut from realism to abstraction. However, most of the works tend to have more literal and less obtuse interpretations. The exhibit was launched in the fall of 2010 to coincide with American combat troops beginning to return home from Iraq. It ran until March 2011. 

Click on the picture above to see more artwork